This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2000-66171, filed on Nov. 8, 2000, under 35 U.S.C. § 119, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly, to a semiconductor memory device having a metal contact structure and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In semiconductor memory devices such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices, a metal contact serves to connect a metal line with various components including, for example, an active area, a gate electrode, a bit line, and an upper electrode of a capacitor. The metal contact is usually disposed on a periphery region of the semiconductor memory device.
The basic memory cell of a dynamic RAM device, which includes a single transistor and a capacitor is small and a very dense array can be made using these cells. The major cost of a semiconductor memory is usually the cost of the silicon wafer, thus, the more chips on a wafer, the lower cost per chip. Dynamic RAMs therefore have a lower cost per bit than memories with less compact arrays.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional semiconductor memory device having a metal contact structure. As shown in FIG. 1, the memory device includes a cell region 100 and a periphery region 200. In the cell region 100, a gate electrode 14 is disposed on an active area 12 of a silicon substrate 10. The silicon substrate 10 and an active area 12 are integrally formed, and protruding portions of the substrate 10 are used as the active area (i.e., a channel area) 12. Bit lines 16 and a capacitor C are formed over the gate electrode 14. The capacitor C includes upper and lower electrodes 17 and 18. A first metal contact 26a is disposed to contact a metal line 28 with the upper electrode 17 of the capacitor C.
In the periphery region 200, bit line contacts 24 are disposed to respectively connect the bit lines 16 with the active area 12 and the gate electrode 14. Second metal contact 26b and third metal contact 26c are formed in metal contact holes that are each between adjacent bit lines 16, to connect the metal line 28 with the active area 12 and the gate electrode 14, respectively. Also, a fourth metal contact 26d connects the metal line 28 with the bit line 16. First insulating layer 20 and second insulating layer 22 electrically insulate the components described above from each other, and are preferably made of an oxide such as, for example, SiOx.
The metal contacts 26 are usually formed after forming the upper electrode 17 of the capacitor 18. At this time, the metal contacts should precisely be aligned with the active area 12, the gate electrode 14, and the bit lines 16, which have already been formed. Since the alignment margin is relatively large in the areas where the first metal contact 26a connects the metal line 28 with the upper electrode 17 of the capacitor C, and where the fourth metal contact 26d connects the metal line 28 with the bit line 16, a very precise alignment is not required. On the other hand, the second metal contact 26b and third metal contact 26c each require a very precise alignment with the active area 12, the gate electrode 14, and the bit lines 16. As a chip size becomes smaller, the second and third metal contacts 26b and 26c disposed on the periphery region 200 have an increasingly narrow alignment margin with the active area 12, the gate electrode 14, and the bit lines 16. Therefore, the semiconductor manufacturing process, especially the photolithography process, becomes more difficult.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view illustrating a portion D of FIG. 1. The metal line 28 disposed on the periphery region 200 is connected with the active area 12 and the gate electrode 14 via the second and third metal contacts 26b and 26c, respectively. As described above, the second and third metal contacts 26b and 26c should each be disposed between two adjacent bit lines 16. As a chip size becomes smaller, an alignment margin thus becomes reduced; therefore, a short circuit between the metal contacts 26b and 26c and the neighboring bit line 16 is more likely to occur due to a misalignment.
In efforts to try to overcome the problem described above, a metal contact stud technique may be used.
FIGS. 3 and 4 are exemplary cross-sectional views illustrating a conventional semiconductor memory device having a metal contact structure using a metal contact stud. As shown in FIG. 3, metal contact studs 27a and 27b connect upper and lower portions 26b1, and 26b2 of the second metal contact 26b, and upper and lower portions 26c1 and 26c2 of the third metal contact 26c, respectively. The metal contact studs 27a and 27b are formed at the same time as the bit lines 16 following the formation of the lower portions 26b2 and 26c2 of the second and third metal contacts 26b and 26c, respectively. After forming the metal contact studs 27a and 27b, the upper portions 26b1 and 26c1 of the second and third metal contacts 26b and 26c are connected, respectively, with the lower portions 26b2 and 26c2 of the second and third metal contacts 26b and 26c via the metal contact studs 27a and 27b. As a result, an alignment margin is increased.
However, as shown in FIG. 4, as a chip size becomes smaller, a gap between the adjacent two bit lines 16 becomes increasingly narrow; it thus becomes very difficult to secure sufficient space to dispose the metal contact stud 27. This results in a very difficult manufacturing process and a low manufacturing yield.
Accordingly, a need exists for a semiconductor memory having a metal contact structure that can secure sufficient space to dispose the metal contact stud, and which has an improved manufacturing process and a high manufacturing yield.